In science fiction, Earth was rarely depicted as being perfectly intact.
Whether because of environmental pollution, nuclear war, an alien invasion, or horrors from another dimension, such stories often began by explaining that Earth's value as real estate had plummeted.
The same was true of this world.
Mother Earth, ravaged by runaway advances in engineering, had been polluted beyond recovery. Beneath the poisonous clouds of their own making, humans lost more of their vitality with each passing generation.
When the environment itself finally became humanity's greatest enemy, humanity did not unite.
At least, not in this world.
The term “wealth gap” vanished entirely from dictionaries once people stopped regarding it as a social problem that needed to be corrected.
The city walls formed the first dividing line between the ‘wealthy and the poor.’
“Of course, living inside them doesn't exactly guarantee an easy life anymore.”
「Even that precious city of yours isn't a decent place to live?」
“The city was probably built several centuries ago. They wouldn't have made a mess of it from the beginning, but by now, it probably isn't anything worth boasting about.”
Evan felt the hamster squirm inside his cloak.
This demon, who had spent a rather long time hibernating, was unexpectedly curious about human affairs.
And Evan was capable of satisfying that curiosity to some extent.
「So you humans built the place because you didn't want to die, but then you divided yourselves into those who lived well and those who didn't?」
“More or less.”
For a moment, only the hamster's quiet breathing could be heard, as though it had fallen into thought.
It soon continued.
「Even after going through all that, you humans still managed to survive somehow.」
“That's unexpected.”
「What is?」
“Creatures like you usually snicker obnoxiously while saying, ‘Humans, honestly…….’ You seem to accept it rather easily.”
「That is an extraordinarily human-centric way of thinking. Humans, honestly…….」
Evan snickered at the hamster's retort.
“What's your name?”
「My name?」
“Owners usually name their pets, but you had a ‘previous owner.’ I thought you might already have a name people called you.”
「You black mage bastard, are you needling me again?」
“So, what's your name?”
「I can't tell you. A name means something very different to beings like us than it does to you humans.」
“Then I look forward to working with you, rat bastard.”
「You truly are one disrespectful son of a bitch. You haven't even considered how many years I've lived, and now…….」
“Shh.”
「GAK!」
Evan stopped and tightly wrung his cloak.
For a moment, the strangled gasps of a dying rodent could be heard. Then it fell silent.
Darkness blanketed the narrow mine shaft.
Evan quietly watched the darkness ahead.
The hamster had been about to fly into a rage, but it lowered its voice after sensing something unusual in Evan's reaction.
「Is something there?」
“No.”
「……?」
“I thought you were about to get noisy, so I was considering ways to shut you up.”
「You fucking lunatic.」
“Still, it isn't as though there's truly nothing here.”
Evan raised his right hand. A hologram was projected from the lens mounted on the fingertip of his exoskeleton suit.
Loading Map Data……
51%
73%
98%
<Loaded - Mine Shaft No. 12>
The data contained within the Golden Cross that Evan had acquired.
Countless smuggling routes leading into the city.
A three-dimensional map of the winding mine shaft Evan was currently traversing appeared, and his present location was marked at the far end of it.
Evan looked upward.
A rusted, half-broken ladder was attached to the wall, with an old trapdoor visible at the top.
“It felt incredibly far away, but now that I'm actually here, it wasn't that far.”
Floor City, which he had tried so hard to enter, was directly above his head.
He carefully climbed the ladder and slowly pushed against the trapdoor.
The first thing he saw was a concrete ceiling. Since there was not a single ray of light, it appeared to be a basement.
A pungent odor of mold mixed with the stale smell of dust and rushed over him.
Evan climbed up while remaining sufficiently cautious.
Desks, chairs, and miscellaneous objects whose purposes he could not even begin to guess lay dormant beneath thick layers of dust.
There were old-looking footprints, marks where something had been dragged across the floor, and traces of several people carrying cargo up the stairs.
Evan picked up several discarded food wrappers and examined them.
“The last visit was several weeks ago. It looks like someone normally keeps watch over this place. These food wrappers have recent production dates.”
「You've become quite the detective.」
“My field of expertise wasn't particularly logical. It tended to cultivate imagination more easily than academic ability.”
Evan brushed the dust from his cloak and climbed the stairs.
Floor City should finally be waiting at the top.
He thought about the setting of this world and the random events he had experienced in Floor City while playing the game.
He also thought about the city's distinctive atmosphere and visual appeal.
What would it feel like to see it in person?
He could not deny that he felt some anticipation.
After climbing another couple of floors, he reached the door to the ground level.
He slowly pushed against the metal door, which was far too thick to be an ordinary door.
CREEEAK—
The hinges grated together, and the beam of light forcing its way through the gap gradually widened.
Then, just as Evan stuck his head outside—
“Die, you bastards!”
RATATATATATATAT!
***
「Hey, black mage bastard. You said the city was at least better than that place called Asle.」
“…….”
「The first resident we've met seems even more like an animal.」
“Wait. I'm thinking.”
Evan immediately closed the door he had begun opening and quickly assessed the situation.
“……Now that I think about it, this isn't particularly strange.”
Asle was ruled by a single king known as the Bones Clan.
Setting aside whether its authority was sufficient, there were at least clearly defined lines that the vermin on the streets could not cross.
In contrast, the city was filled with countless interest groups that relied upon a vague hierarchy.
Large-scale conflicts between factions might actually occur more frequently here than in Asle.
Fundamentally, it might have merely been a convenient justification for random encounter events intended to keep players from becoming bored.
However—
“YEE-HAW!”
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
RATATATATATATAT!
To Evan, it was reality now.
“Fucking cyberpunk.”
「So what are you going to do? Are you going to wait here until things quiet down?」
That was not a bad option.
However, he did not know how long he would have to wait. More importantly, if those bastards continued running wild like that, they would only draw law enforcement toward Evan's location.
That would not be particularly pleasant.
And—
RATATATATATAT!
“YEEEE-HAAAAAW!”
“SQUAWK! SQUAWK! SQUAWK!”
BANG! BANG! BANG!
“…….”
Evan did not know what the things outside were, but they were getting on his nerves.
He decided to act for several practical reasons and one emotional reason.
He looked beyond the door once again.
How many souls could he harvest?
It was important to calculate the potential profit and loss before making an investment.
Among the souls within his field of vision, Evan distinguished the threatening ones from those that posed no danger.
Having reached his conclusion, Evan drew his dagger instead of using any souls.
「You're going to fight without using the Sacrificial Rite? Isn't your confidence getting excessive? People usually die around then.」
“Frugality is a virtue.”
Evan knew that arrogance killed mages.
He had hunted several mages by exploiting that very weakness.
There were two options he could pursue to escape that problem.
He could discard his arrogance through inner growth…….
Or he could abandon the methods of a mage.
For Evan, the latter was far easier than the former.
“This is the perfect opportunity to test what I just acquired.”
To ensure that his movements would not be obstructed, Evan swept his cloak aside in advance and kicked the iron door with all his strength.
CRASH—!
The door flew open, revealing a wide space.
It was a red-toned interior resembling a casino, though everything had been reduced to a shattered mess.
Six people were shooting at the others inside.
One was extremely close to Evan, while the remaining five were farther away.
Thick smoke filled the air along with the powerful smell of gunpowder. Splinters flew from wooden surfaces struck by bullets.
Evan walked inside and drew his pistol.
【 Activation Command Detected】
【Mode Activated: Precision Movement】
【Power Consumption: 160%】
Evan did not care who the combatants were, whether this was a simple robbery, or what kind of conflict existed between them.
He merely needed to kill everyone holding a gun and leave.
Before any of them could properly recognize Evan, his turn had already begun.
【SYSTEM: Executing Add-On Code】
【Add-On Detected: Kairos V1】
【Type: Accelerator】
To cope with the flood of sensory information pouring in through his overloaded nerves, his brain simplified its processing.
Sound became muffled, as though he had been submerged underwater, and his vision turned monochrome.
【Warning: Low Voltage Detected】
The sensation of entering a tunnel was unfamiliar enough to disorient him, but Evan recovered his composure in an instant.
‘Everything is slowing down.’
The startled gazes turning toward Evan, the fragments scattering through the air, and even the drifting smoke.
Everything slowed to an extreme degree.
Even Evan's own body was no exception.
His finger moved so slowly against the trigger that it was more disorienting than he had imagined.
As he tried to grow accustomed to these sensations, Evan focused all his attention on remaining calm and slowly pulled the trigger.
BANG—!
Even under these circumstances, the bullet was still fast.
It pierced the first target squarely between the eyes, sending fresh blood scattering through the air.
BANG—!
The second.
The precision mode of the medical exoskeleton device was intended for surgical procedures, but Evan had always planned to use it in precisely this manner.
Its unwavering precision guaranteed perfectly accurate shots without variables at this distance.
BANG—!
At that point, Evan felt his vision shake enough to become uncomfortable.
It was not that his eyes were actually trembling.
The processing capacity of his brain—or perhaps Evan's system—was beginning to come under strain.
‘This seems to be my limit for now.’
Still, was this not quite respectable for his first time using it?
Evan was reasonably satisfied with the results of the initial test.
【SYSTEM: Forcibly Terminating Add-On Execution Code】
Color returned to his vision, and sound became clear again.
Then—
“Ghk!” “Urgh!”
As time resumed, the three people whose heads had been pierced collapsed simultaneously.
“Wh-What……?”
“Who the fuck is that bastard?!”
“Where did he come from?!”
Three remained.
Evan charged forward and drew his dagger.
The closest one belatedly thrust his gun toward Evan.
“I'll borrow some blood.”
“What did you……?”
SLASH—!
Before he could finish, his chest was cut deeply.
Fresh blood sprayed into the air, then suddenly spiraled and was sucked into the dagger's blade.
Evan drew the dagger back and looked toward the remaining two.